Champaign Native Living in Tokyo Reflects on Earthquake, Tsunami

When a devastating earthquake and tsunami hit Japan last week, Michael Bekiares was on the 19th floor of an office building in Tokyo. The building shook for 11 minutes during the quake. Bekiares grew up in Champaign and studied economics at the University of Illinois. He moved to Japan about 13 years ago for a job in finance, and now lives about 200 miles from the earthquake's epicenter. Illinois Public Media's Sean Powers spoke to Bekiares from Tokyo using Skype.

(Photo courtesy of Michael Bekiares)